Tears, Two Weddings, and Tiger Woods (Part 1)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is the most dramatic podcast ever and iHeartRadio podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hi wife, Hello husband.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
We're married so many times, we are officially officially married,
and we have the rings to prove it. I actually now,
I think the thing I am most excited about is
we get to be public about this because we did
have the two weddings, and one of the things I
didn't think about was that I wouldn't be able to

(00:34):
wear my ring and really celebrate us in public until
we had this second wedding. And so I'm excited to
actually get to wear my ring. Something I'm looking forward
to because I would wear it around the house and
then I would have to take it off, leave it
in our bedroom and then go out about the day.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
So everybody, we had two weddings. We want to make
sure we spill all the details for you all today
and share everything that we can with thank you over
these next few episodes of the most dramatic podcast ever.
And to clarify, yes, we had two weddings.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Let's start there, and you're right, we have some dirt.
We have some exciting things to talk about, some things
that I think are going to shake up Bachelor Nation
for sure, especially from our second wedding, and so yeah,
we have so many details, so many great stories, so
many things to dive into. We will break it up
over several episodes. And we were excited to tell all

(01:27):
right here, so.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
You were so okay, we're to begin. So we got
married for the first time October fourteenth in Napa Valley, California,
a place near and dear to our hearts. We got
engaged there as well, And I just want to clarify
what you explained about the ring, because you were so sweetly.

(01:50):
We had this wedding in Napa and then we had
another one in Austin, and in between the two weddings,
we wanted to keep it private and just announced that
we were married all together as one and kind of
make both events feel really big. So yeah, you didn't
wear your ring in between. But what was so cute
was that you wanted to wear his rings so much
that I bought him. I bought Chris this watch as

(02:12):
a wedding gift, and he was wearing the watch all
the time, saying, well, this is kind of like wearing
my ring in between the two ways.

Speaker 1 (02:18):
It was my hidden way of wearing something representing us
in public without making things public and yeah, the purpose.
People are like, why'd you do two weddings, Well, because
we wanted two different things. We wanted that intimate, very small,
private affair with our family, and that was NAPA. Again,
a very intentional wedding. Everything was intentional in that we

(02:40):
were in a place that was special to us. Not
only we got engaged there, but we've spent a lot
of time there and it's just a place that we
have found so many friends, we forged so many memories.
So it was a no brainer to go back to NAPA.
But that wasn't like the raging party that we wanted
to have with all of our friends.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
You know what, Yes, there were any reasons, but a
huge part of what we kept thinking, I have heard
from so many people, I had this great wedding, but
I didn't get to even see this person. I didn't
get to say hi to this person. I didn't get
to talk to this person. And so we really wanted
to be able to spend important close time with the

(03:19):
people who have been with us since the beginning of
our relationship, our family, our closest friends. That was NAPA.
Austin was a blowoutrage, rage party.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
It really was was, it was everything. I just want
to put this into context for the listeners, because well,
Lauren's voice, you mean I sound great. I probably sounds
a little tired, maybe even a little hungover. Are you
hungover a little bit? I was.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, it's seven pm at night on Sunday, November fifth.
We are about twenty four hours after I'm just and
you're just by the way all day.

Speaker 1 (03:56):
I don't know if I'm hungover specifically because of you know,
a few tequila shots that we did do I did
several with Bachs or Nation friends last night. But this
is the culmination of so much emotion stress because we
wanted to pull this off and do it right and

(04:16):
keep it secret and announce it the right way and
save it for the podcast. So there's just I think
my body is just finally relaxing.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
There's hungover, which is your nauseous, maybe you're vomiting. Oh yeah, no, no,
you've a headache. And then there's like a type of
hangover where you have an emotional hangover. Actually a friend
of ours, my friend Jen, who came to both weddings.
She's a real close maybe of mine. She had the
perfect phrase, I thought, after NAPA, she told me. She

(04:48):
was like, I'm so exhausted, and I think I figured
out why. She said, it's a love hangover. She said
NAPA was so full of so much love, and she
said Austin was a there too. But you know we
had toasts and speeches from the kids and my siblings
and our moms and your dad and your brother and

(05:09):
dear friends, and and you know we we had I
loved our vows. I'll say it, but she said I
left the events with a love hangover, where it was
so much wonderful emotion that she said, my body feels
exhausted from all the love.

Speaker 1 (05:22):
And we'll break both weddings down. We'll get into the
nitty gritty and the details and the good, the bad,
the ugly. But overall, if we were to paint with
a broad brush, I would say NAPA for me was
emotion level a fifteen out of one to ten. I mean,
I cried seventy times.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
I cried so much.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
I cried like a baby. At NAPA.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
You cried, but babe, hold on, I need to take
a minute. You cried way more than I thought you would.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
I really and you said that to me. I wasn't
sure how to take it. Is that a bad thing?
Like you're like.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Oky, well, because you're just a very strong person. Like
you're really not a big crier. I mean, I know
sometimes you're like, oh, I'm a ball back, but you're
only You're only a crier in like like sometimes things
with the kids can make you cry. To be honest,
you haven't really cried over you and I very much,
and I would never. I know that our love is
what it is, but I understand that parental love is

(06:20):
so different. I have to tell you the truth, and
I don't mean to dear up now saying this. I
was a little scared you weren't going to cry. And
I know that you love me, but I was a
little scared. You're just not like you're emotional, but you're
not the biggest crier.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Yeah. I'm usually pretty even keeled in situation.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
Which is something I love about you. You stay very strong.
I'm a little more wacky, and so you're very centered
for me. But I was I think I I think
I would have been hurt if you hadn't cried at all.
I thought, Okay, he's gonna cry a little bit, But
you cried during the vows and NAPA oh, probably five times.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
I could not get through the vowel in Napa Valley,
I just and again we'll get to the details of it,
but again I would say Napa on a scale of one,
it's an emotion wise was a fifteen because I did.
I cried. I started crying in the morning. And again,
I don't want to reveal everything about Napa, but there
were just so many things that triggered me during the
day in such a beautiful way. Because it's all about family,

(07:19):
and that's the one thing that you gives. Let's talk
about it, okay.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
So why did you cry so many times?

Speaker 1 (07:25):
Because the things that trigger me are family. That's what
always gets to my heart. You are family. Now you
have been family, but now your family is mine. So
your mom gave me a gift. This is where it
all started. Your mom. We I was doing pretty good.
I went to breakfast, I went to work out with
my buddy Chip. We got our we got our workout
in it's our tradition. We went back to the room

(07:47):
and your mom had left me a gift. And I
didn't quite understand exactly what the gift was because I
didn't dive into it. But I could see on our
bed table that she had left a picture of you
and your father, and so the a picture of you
and your dad, your late father for those that don't know.
And so I write there I just said, I'm not
ready for this yet, because I knew what was in

(08:10):
that letter, and I just thought it was a picture
in a letter. I didn't know that there was a
gift in there. I didn't see that. I waited for
you to leave. You left, I think around noon or
something to go get ready, and I had the room
to myself. So we actually, by the way, spoiler alert,
we saw each other the day the morning of our wedding. Yes,
we also decided that we stayed together the night before

(08:30):
our wedding.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
This was a big debate and it's funny, do you
in looking back. So Chris was saying we should spend
the night apart the night before our wedding in this
very traditional way, which is sweet. But I said, look,
we have this special three day weekend that we've planned
in Napa with our best friends, with our family. I
want every minute with you. I want to be together
every minute. I want to wake up with you on

(08:51):
the morning of our wedding like a kid on Christmas
morning and I won and we spent the night together.
Are you glad or looking back, do you wish we hadn't?

Speaker 1 (08:58):
No, I don't even know why I was going through
the motions of getting a different rooms. I think somebody
had given me the advice to stay apart that night.
It would make me, I guess, long for you or
get excited. I didn't need that.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
Well, you know what made me long for you the
fact that, let's really tell it all, the week of
our wedding, and I think twenty four hours into marriage
should get some kind of wife award the week of
our wedding, Chris Harrison says to me, Babe, I have
an opportunity.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Okay, No, I didn't announce this the week of our wedding.
I announced this many months before, but it was going
to take place the week it would be.

Speaker 2 (09:33):
I have an opportunity the week of our wedding, a
couple days before. In fact, I can go to Pebble
Beach and play golf and hang out with Tiger Woods,
and I would like to do that. It means we're
no longer going to travel and nap it together for
the wedding. I'll meet you there and I'll meet you
there on Thursday. And I said, Babe, absolutely go hang

(09:59):
with your real husband as Tiger.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Okay, so revision is history, and I will get back
to what made me cry about you.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Can I get a wife award?

Speaker 1 (10:09):
No, because, oh my god, I mean, can I just
tell the real story of how way because it's actually
very complimentary first fight, because you'll agree this is how
it went, and this is very complimentary of the kind
of woman you are and why I love you. I
got invited to this event that I play in every
year with Tiger and a few other PGA guys and
some of my very close friends that I have known
for about twenty years, and I got this call to

(10:32):
go and I turned it down. I said no, And
you heard about this and you said what was that?
And I said, oh, that was a deal to go
play at Pebble Beach And you go, well, Babey, aren't
you going? And I said, well, it's it's our wedding week.
Zero chance I'm going on our wedding week. There's no
way I'm going because it's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. No, And
so I just I said, don't Eve worry about it.

(10:52):
I've turned it down, and you said, Babe, I know
you love these people, and I know you love this event.
You love to go do it, and you know I
love Pebble Beach. Go do this. And it took a
little time because I said, this is a really bad idea.
It's not going to end well. But you are the
one that actually pushed me and said, no, no, go
do that. My mom and sister are going to come in.

(11:14):
You go, and that's we will meet up in Napa.

Speaker 2 (11:17):
You know what. You're right, and I stam corrected and
I don't know why. This is why I witness testimonies
unreliable in court. I really didn't remember it that way,
but you're completely right. It was like that, and I
should have told it that way because we actually both
look and sound like better people in the correct version.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
And if people will go back to my social media,
there was this bit I did with Max Homa, who
just came off the Ryder cup one of the golfers,
and I announced on that Instagram post that video, I said,
if you make this shot, you will officiate my wedding.
What people didn't realize is that wedding was in two
days and so Max and Tiger, and all those people
knew about my wedding coming up. So that made that

(11:54):
video even better if you go back and watch it
that it was two days later he would have come
to our wedding. Takes were actually kind of the stakes
were high. But so I drove over Wednesday night of
our wedding, and I got there a day a night
ahead of you, which was actually really good because I
did some shopping. I got some things for our room,
I got some things for you. I was able to

(12:15):
kind of lay the groundwork and get things together. Being
the organizer, I like details done.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
I'll sing your praises because I do remember this accurately. Yes.
So I ended up flying in with my mom and
my sister who came and stayed in Austin with me
while Chris was in Pebble Beach, and it was fun
because we kind of had a little girls a week beforehand.
And then what Chris did before we got there was
he got me flowers. He got me a candle, a

(12:44):
Marlow scented candle. What a perfect I mean, I love
a candle and we're low for NAPA. And he got
my mom flowers and my sister flowers and wrote them
notes that were in their hotel rooms and wrote me
a note and while you were gone in Pebble Beach,
you all. So he left me a note for every
day that he was gone, and I had a letter

(13:05):
to open from him for every single day of our
wedding week leading up to our wedding, and then I
ended up opening the final letter on the day of Wow,
I'm really glad we're doing this podcast because now this
is a good record, because I was wishing I had
like journaled because I'm worried I'm gonna forget everything. So
this is good because.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
It did go by. It went That's one thing about
That's one thing about NAPA that was I knew it
was so good because it went by so fast. And
I even thought, in my wisdom and experience, slow this down,
breathe it all in, take it all in, and it's
it's impossible. And obviously those who have been married and
had these moments, everybody knows the same.

Speaker 2 (13:44):
Somebody. I think there's got to be a name for
the phenomena that happens to your body. Obviously, we're having
a lot of wine, and obviously I was just forgetting
to eat because I was talking to people in stress. So, look,
was that a little tipsy at our wedding events in Napa, Sure,
but not to the point of something else was happening
to my body. It's an out of body I don't

(14:05):
know if you're on an adrenaline high, if your emotions
are high, but you feel almost like it's a blur,
you're watching it all happen from above or something. It's
kind of surreal.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
And we had set originally to have a Saturday wedding,
so a Friday night kind of get together, a pre
wedding party. I guess it wasn't. It wasn't a rehearsal dinner.
It was this amazing thing. And then that we had
set up at this vineyard, and then Friday, and then
that was Friday, then we're gonna have Saturday. Well, we
all love each other so much, and there was this

(14:36):
great group of people, a very small group. There's only
forty people at this particular wedding. Forty what what was
the final number?

Speaker 2 (14:42):
I think we had forty three or forty five people
including us at our wedding in Napa. Yeah, And so,
like you said, Friday, we did a welcome wine party.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
But before we got to that Thursday became a thing. Yes,
well we had not planned on, but this was what.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
We'd hoped for exactly, I really look. I guess Napa
was a destination wedding, even though a lot of our
friends live in California. But we really wanted everybody to
be fully present for the entire weekend. It wasn't a
thing of like, oh, we can't make Friday, but what
will be there Saturday. No, we wanted everyone there the
whole weekend. It was a destination wedding and I wanted
everybody to enjoy Napa. We had lots of great events,

(15:19):
but like, go do a tasting on your own if
you want. Though, people gotta be careful about coming in
hot to Napa. It's like Vegas, Okay, you can't as
professionals in Napa. I would say, if you're going do
two wine tastings a day, go to dinner. You can't
do more than that, or you are on the floor,
which should happen to some people on Thursday. So people
got excited. They started coming in on Thursday. Before we

(15:42):
knew it, thirty something people were already going to be
there on Thursday, So we had it a Thursday night dinner,
which was great and where people also got a little drunk.
Everyone's so excited and you get there and then you
do a tasting and you've been drinking all day. And
I think that was good because people sort of got
it together and then didn't end up getting super drunk
on Friday and Saturday.

Speaker 1 (16:02):
And so Thursday night ended up being kind of this
beautiful I called a family meal where we just everyone
mixed and matched and no seating chart and we just
had this room to ourselves at this great.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
We literally the week of grabbed a private room at
comp Lined. By the way, you haven't been an amazing
restaurant downtown Napa so yummy.

Speaker 1 (16:18):
And by the way, we should say from the beginning
we stayed at the Archer Hotel in downtown Napa.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
My new favorite hotel in Napa. I'm so glad we
found it. We only ever discovered it because we were
looking for a place with a rooftop view in Napa
and a friend of ours, Catherine Reynolds of roy Winery,
where we at her wedding dinner, which was amazing, she
told us about the Archer and gosh, if you're in Napa,

(16:44):
I mean they've got this rooftop. They have music, live
music there every Sunday for brunch. The rooms are gorgeous
and it's so conveniently located to everything, and so that
was another fun part. Every wanted everybody to stay at
the same hotel. Everybody stayed at the Archer. They put
us all on the same floor. I felt like I
was in a strority again. We were walking on the halls,
like knocking on each other's doors, hanging out. It was

(17:06):
the experience that I wanted.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
Yeah, I love the Archer and I like downtown Napa.
There's so many great resorts there and I've stayed at resorts. Well,
you and I have stayed at resorts around and it's
fun to be out in the countryside. And there's something
about being in downtown because you're buying Model Bakery, which
is famous for their English muffins, and you know, gots Burgers,
and you can go to I think Monday Bakery, and
there's tasting rooms and so being in the city is

(17:30):
just cool because it's such a walkable little downtown. It's
really cute. So the Archer is it's newly renovated, beautiful,
beautiful hotel, and then.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
Big takeaway for me, I would say, if you're having
a destination wedding, it's helpful for everybody to stay somewhere
that has walkability, because then you know, and people are drinking,
you don't want them like renting a car, and so
everybody could walk and grab a coffee and we didn't
have to worry about everyone renting cars on top of
getting hotel rooms.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
And so Friday, you and I kind of hung out
because people were arriving. Most of the guests that were
there went off and did tastings and enjoyed Napa Valley.
My family, the kids came in from college and they
arrived with my mom. My dad arrived on Friday as well,
and so we kind of hung around the hotel until
late afternoon when we headed off to our Friday event,

(18:16):
which was it one of our favorite wineries in the
world and just a beautiful tasting room at La Quoya.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Yes, now there was a forty minute shuttle ride to Laquoya. Yeah,
did people get to tips here?

Speaker 1 (18:30):
Well, we decided to break up the buses.

Speaker 2 (18:32):
Was this weird? I in retrospect? Okay, here's my idea.
So we, of course people are drinking, we want to
shuttle them all around, so we had two shuttles and
though tell the la Quoya was going to be the
longer one of the weekend, forty minutes. So I'm like,
we gotta have some champagne and tequila on the buses.
And I thought, you know'd be fun. It's to a
babes bus and a boys bus. Everybody's going to be

(18:54):
with their a couple all weekend. Let's split up girls
and boys. So we had a girl's bus and a
boy's bus. It was sort of like a really really
quick bachelor and bachelorette.

Speaker 1 (19:01):
Party it was. And our bus we had great tequila
and it was pretty chill, had a little music going.
Your bus was not chill, no.

Speaker 2 (19:10):
Which I thought the boys would have turned it up more.
Yeah know, your mom decided she was the bar tendress
of the bus, the bus tendress, which I loved, and
she was I don't know if she was violating transportation rules,
but she was walking up and down the aisle of
the bus, pouring the gals champagne throughout the bus ride.
At one point she did take the bus driver's microphone.
I don't know if that was a violation either, but

(19:31):
shout out to Mariabeth Harrison for making a party happen
on the bus. It was a party bus and became.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
A flight attendant, just walking up and down the aisle, serving.

Speaker 2 (19:38):
Drinks, absolutely telling us to buckle our seatbelts and hold
on tight.

Speaker 1 (19:43):
She's she's a bad woman.

Speaker 2 (19:45):
There's zeals in Napa. It was a bit windy. I
was worried at some points, but we were ready to
catch her.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
I can see his mom going down the day before that.

Speaker 2 (19:52):
I don't want that to happen. But so, what was
happening on your bus? We never even talked about this.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
It was so quiet.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
I mean it was quiet.

Speaker 1 (19:58):
To say it, it was chill. It was like everybody because
the guys were just there was lot a lot of people.
The guys didn't know each other, and so it was
a lot of just getting to know each other, talking
a few tequila.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
Wait, you're saying the guys had the deep conmos.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
No deep deep. We were talking sports. We're talking golf.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
Of course, it's never deep. Guys getting to know each
other means so what football team teams? That's guys getting
to know each other. Women give us forty minutes on
a bus, you will walk off crying. You know each
other's how many breakups you've had, you know, like the
names of each other's siblings. Okay, got it? That?

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Like today, And I'm going to flash forward to today
because we had a brunch today post wedding, and our
dear friend Sage Steele was here at the brunch along
with one of your sorority sisters. And we look over
in the kitchen. They're both bawling. They've only been talking
for five minutes and they're bawling. That is the difference
between them, the women's bus and the boys bus, who

(20:54):
they just know. I root for the cowboys and I
like to play golf. So we get to La Koya
and they have rolled out the red carpet. It is
decked out, It is beautify It's perfect weather. We got

(21:17):
so blessed with the weather.

Speaker 2 (21:19):
And there was a heat wave in Napa the weekend
before our wedding. Our wedding weekend was perfect. It was
like crisp and seventy and sunny. So we were just
so blessed. I do like to think I sometimes think
that my dad is kind of watching over me with
those moments. I really feel like because in Austin. We

(21:45):
had the weekend before torrential down four and thirty five
degrees and then we just sad. The wedding in Austin.
It was seventy and sunny and beautiful.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
Gary's looking up for it.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
I think he's part in the clouds for us. So
Laquoia Winery on Friday, and oh my dreams came true
because right as I entered, I was handed I'm gonna
be a little bougie, a caviar bite, a caviar bite,
and like a little what was it? It was in
a pastry. It was so good. The food was so amazing. Look,

(22:16):
there was one thing. I'll be honest, I don't know
if I'm a bride on a budget. My dress is
not that expensive. My dress was pretty. You don't even
know how much it was.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
Can I guess five thousand dollars?

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Dress was like fourteen hundred dollars.

Speaker 1 (22:30):
You're dress as fourteen hundred dollars, not fourteen thousand. It
was fourteen hundred, which is still a lot of money.
I'm not like negating that.

Speaker 2 (22:36):
It's just it was.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
And by the way, that dress, we'll talk about it.
But man, that dress, Okay, that woman in the dress.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
Thank you. Well, yeah, I mean, I'm not saying fourteen
hundred dollars is a small amount of money. In fact,
that's part of why waiting. But that's part of why
I wanted to wear the dress twice. I'm a Midwestern gal.
You've got to get your bang for your buck. Okay,
I love the dress. We spent some money on it,
Let's wear it twice. So, but I do want to
spend money on food, on wine, on like the experience

(23:08):
in the room and the space, and if you ever
get the chance to go to NAPA. We are giving
some recommendations on this podcast. Lacoia Winery. This it's stunning.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah. So they're tied in with Cardinal as well, same
wine maker as Cardinal, this guy Chris Carpenter, who's a genius.
And this is up on Spring Mountain, so it's a
bit of a drive up there, back into the valley
and then back up on Spring Mountain. But man, it
is at elevation on the mountain. It is so stunning,
so beautiful the architecture, but the views, and it is

(23:36):
some of the best wine in the valley as well.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
And so we had multiple somaliers doing what we wanted
to do is also make it like a tasting experience,
so they were doing pourings and tastings with people. I
would call this a welcome wine party. We didn't want
to be two traditional guys. We didn't do any type
of rehearsal really, and we did a welcome wine party.

(23:59):
Have some taste. It was all past apps. We had, oh,
some crispy fries made in duck fat.

Speaker 1 (24:05):
Heck, yeah, duck fat makes anything better. And just I
think the difference is we curated and again everything was intentional.
We curated the wine and the food and the music
and the scene that was Napa and that rolled over
into the next night as well, that was not Austin.
Austin was like rip roaring, bootscoot and let's have a
blast shooting tequila. And we should say, very different crowds

(24:27):
and different people attended both because in Napa very close
friends and family of both of ours. As far as
the bachelor world goes, there was just.

Speaker 2 (24:39):
One, well he's a lot backed into the strong body.

Speaker 1 (24:43):
It was Andrew Firestone.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Andrew Firestone m Seed our Friday night welcome wine party.
That's the man's happy place, isn't it is Andrew Firestone
happier than when he's em seeing something.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
When he's holding a microphone in a public forum, that
is that is his superpowers.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
You know what subtle difference. You're a host, you're a tvo.
So I'm not saying you can't m see an event,
but Andrew like is an emsy And when I say that,
I mean the man lays it all on the table.
And when I say that, I mean he literally while
he was emceeing this event, jumped on the table full
body slid down the table at one point. So we

(25:19):
just really wanted Napa to feel like, first of all,
every single person who was there we've both known for years.
They are intimate, close friends of ours. And then we wanted,
you know, people to kind of feel really part of everything.
So we said, Andrew, can you emcy Friday night? And
what he did was he brought up different people who

(25:39):
we'd asked to give toasts, your brother, my brother, a
really good friend's chip and list who did a dual
couple's toast. My dad spoke, and then Andrew was the
last person to speak, and he printed out the lyrics
to my all time favorite song I Want to Dance
with Somebody by Whitney Houston, and after giving a wonderful

(26:00):
he led the crowd in a group sing of I
want to answer Somebody, and he slid it did a
penguin belly side across it.

Speaker 1 (26:08):
He was a team effort because his beautiful wife and
dear friend, Evanna, as Andrew was speaking, kind of gave
the she was.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
His Vanna, she was his Evanna White.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
And Evanna kind of went around the room handing out something.
We didn't know what it was. And when Andrew kind
of started going into the lyrics of the song in
his speech, it took us a minute to catch on
to what he was doing. And then we got into
the chorus and everybody jumped in and the whole room
was singing.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
I think what was so funny about it? And clever
is he introduced it trying to mess with us and
not be too obvious. He said, and now we're reading
by the late great W. Houston's that's miss Whitney Houston.
So he was amazing, and and Andrew was the only
bachelor alum at NAPA. And by the way, it doesn't

(26:58):
mean I mean we love That's why all of the
wonderful people were in Austin. We'll get to that. But Andrew,
I think, is someone who you like, we're just very
close to you and I with both him and Havanna,
he's very near and dear.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
He's been one of my best friends throughout this whole thing,
and we've become very close. But what I love even
more is that you have become close to him and Evanna.
And yeah, I've been friends with him for over a decade.
That's how long ago we did that. Gosh, probably two pictures.

Speaker 2 (27:23):
You guys have of like, you know, when their kids
are little, you're like sending you're helping change their diapers.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
I was at the and it was really cool because
I was at their wedding when he got well. I
was at their engagement party actually when they came back
from Pismo Beach, and then I was at their wedding
as well, up at Losa Livos and Santy Naz and
so to have him there was really special. And spoiler alert,
we knew as well the Firestones could not make the
Austin party, so I'm glad that they were able to

(27:49):
make nap.

Speaker 2 (27:50):
Up because I ask you an intimate question please, as
we're talking about like men the way men ways men
get closer than the ways women get closer. I kind
of feel like all my best friends of me naked,
maybe in part because we lived in a sorority house,
but I don't know, like women change in front of
each other, I don't know what we change front of
each Other's no big deal. Have you ever seen Andrew
Firestone naked?

Speaker 1 (28:11):
I've seen him in his underwear. I've seen most of
the guys in their boxers or briefs or whatever from
the show. Well, from the show, especially back in the day,
we didn't like really it was so on a budget
and on the fly and cheap. I guess we could
say that when we were at the original Bachelor house,
there was one real master bedroom and primary closet, and

(28:34):
all of our clothes were in that one primary closet,
and so we would just get dressed, so you know,
like the makeup chair was there, so we'd each take
a turn and makeup and then we'd get dressed. And
so not a big deal that we've all kind of
been in our boxers. So but no, I don't think
I'm trying to think if I've really I mean, this
sounds weird, but if I've been naked with any of
the Bachelor's and I don't think so, but I think

(28:55):
I've probably been in our boxer briefs with everyone.

Speaker 2 (28:59):
I think that that much like having sex, that that
just instantly increases your intimacy level with someone if you
just are in the room when they're changing or see
them change like all of a sudden, like we're really close. Now,
that's what happened to Ben Higgins and I, which made
it into his wedding toast to us in Austin, which
we will get into. But anyway, it instantly uh bonds.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
Yeah, so I get Yeah, I guess, well, because you're
so vulnerable, right when you're truly stripped down, you're also
stripped down emotionally, and it's like you're.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
Not That's exactly why you just nailed it.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah, that's why the naked shows do so well, because
what are you hiding?

Speaker 2 (29:33):
Oh you mean like Naked It Free? Yeah, all those shows,
Naked and Best Friends. Okay, So Andrew Firestone m Seed
absolutely crushed it. We had our I mean, like you know,
I love when your friends and family can bring their
talents to the table. My brother's speech was so amazing.
My little brother John. He made us laugh, you made
us cry. And then we had our dear friend Nadine Levitt.

(29:58):
She is a world class opera singer and she had
actually started the evening with an opera rendition, which I
think really set the tone. I recommend music using music
to help set the tone at the beginning, middle, and end.

Speaker 1 (30:12):
Because everyone can quiet down, settle in, and Nadine did
such a beautiful job. And the acoustics in the place,
the opera, it just it brings tears to your eyes.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
So there's nothing like a song, no matter what you
could say. It's kind of like why American Idol always
worked so well because you get instantly emotional from music.
So we're all making small talk and chatting and getting
to know each other Friday, and then she comes up
and sings, and it instantly set this beautiful emotional tone
for the night. The speeches were amazing, and then you
know Andrew ending the night on a high by jumping
on the.

Speaker 1 (30:40):
Tape, and there was just the whole party was just
a way for everyone to start to get to know
each other, have some great wines, good food. It did
turn into a bit of a dance party. We cranked
up the music.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
I forgot about that. We were dancing around the charcuterie board.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
We did dance around the charcuterie board. It just turned
into a and I guess wow, I was about to say,
yours our brother in law.

Speaker 2 (30:59):
My sister's husband. He's both of our brother in.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
Law laws, singular brother laws. So Andrew kind of became
a DJ. Started playing the bangers, and we started dancing.
Had an absolute blast until they kicked us out. That
was really a theme for everything is we got kicked
out of every place. And I don't mean in a
bad way. It was just you guys have to go.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
We're shutting it down.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
We are closing this joint. And so we close the
joint again.

Speaker 2 (31:23):
Let people do their thing. Andrew, he is so good.
He's the director of Vibe. He's so good at creating
really good playlists. He brings dance moves. So he went
in the back of Laquoya Winery found their like control room.
We was in there with their security cameras taking over
their sound system. I'm shocked they didn't kick us out sooner,

(31:44):
to be honest, but luckily there are friends and we
know them. Can we talk about one thing quickly before
our outfits. Oh yeah, Friday night, Yeah, you looked so handsome,

(32:04):
thank you.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
I wore a Billy Reed jacket that I bought. We
bought together when we were in Monterey together previously hosting
an event for the AIM Gala, and we saw this
jacket and we just both said, that's the one. So
I wore this beautiful Billy Reed kind of jacket vest
and you know what, I just.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Realized my dress I wore Friday night we also bought together.
That's right, because we just went. I listen to you, guys,
I planned a lot, but I was also I didn't
have a wedding planner at all. We didn't have a
wedding planner at all, not for NAPA, not for Austin.
You're looking at your wedding planners right here, Chris Arison

(32:45):
and Lauren Zema, and listen. I come from a place
of grateful privilege, like right now, I wouldn't say I
have Like when I was full time at entertainment tonight,
I don't think I could have done this work. Was
just too demand it. But it's been really fun to
over the past I don't know, a little less than

(33:05):
a year spend time on all this and get to
do it together. And part of that was a lot
of planning, and part of it was a little, you know,
fly by the seat of your pants kind of stuff.
I'm a bit of a procrastinator, and I don't know.
I went and bought a bunch of dresses and we're online,
shopped and returned and I hadn't found anything. And the
week before I still didn't have a Friday night dress.

(33:26):
And you said, Babe, let's just go shopping. We went
to our favorite little boutique store in Austin Estilo where
we always find stuff, and sure enough, walked in and
got two white dresses and you.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
Tried one on and it was I knew when you
walked out there was actually another woman trying things on
next to you. She stopped, The store owner stopped, and
I stopped, and we're like, that's it, ballgame, that's the dress.

Speaker 2 (33:48):
One thing I love so much about you is that
your years of television have made you pretty stylish. And
I love like we genuinely go shopping together and you
are into it and you will give me yes as
or nos. And he also knows it looks good in
photos and stuff so you'll tell me that stuff. And
it was really fun and I just realized that I
love that. Friday night we both wore stuff that we
picked out together, and Saturday we both wore things that

(34:11):
we picked out on our own.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
So cool because obviously I had no idea. I'd never
seen your dress and I.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
Wanted to make sure I didn't see your suit, and.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
My suit was something very special to me. There is
a store, a men's It's one of my favorite words, habitasherie,
a true habitasherie, and it's old school.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
I think you need to find it is a.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Men's clothing shop and when. But there's a difference between
like they have men's clothes and a habitasherie like they
that is when they you go get a suit, you
have a suit made, and the service there is second
to none. They truly this isn't clear.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
I've made him explain it to me more. I think
a habitasherie how I would describe it as like it's custom.
They might even offer you a drink while you're there.
It's kind of an experience. It's like what Julia Roberts
wanted and pretty woman, but they wouldn't let.

Speaker 1 (34:59):
Her shop big mistake each So I go to Kin'sman
Shop in Dallas, Texas. And this shop has been in
my family for decades, almost a century. It was owned
by my uncle Ken and it's now run by my
cousin Corey. And if you ever go to Kin'sman Shop,
asked for Corey greatest service in the world. So I

(35:19):
brought my brother, your brother, my son Josh, who was
my best man, and we had suits made. We all
had our own suits made. We picked the color and
the fabric and then the inlay and what was monogrammed
on our inside coats, and we made shirts as well
with everything. Everything to a tea was handmade. And it

(35:43):
was a phenomenal experience. It brought us all closer together.
It turned into a kind of my bachelor party. We
ended up going to a Texas Ranger game that night,
just the boys, and it was such a great experience.
So that was my suit from kinsman Shop, custom made
suit that fit like butter. I love that suit. Black, beautiful,

(36:04):
and I went very It wasn't a tux, but it
was a beautiful black cut suit with a black tie,
so it looked like black tie.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
You looked so handsome. I just wanted you in a
black suit. I know you kind of thought about gray,
but I did.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Kind of tell you about it.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
Well, you're just so classic in a black suit.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
I was going to go. I was thinking between dark
dark gray, and when I got there, I was like, Okay,
this is a no brainer. But the boys all, I
guess my grooms men I would call them, although we
didn't have people stand next to us. We'll talk about that.
But my grooms men all had gray suits, and they
got the same ties, matching suits, matching ties.

Speaker 2 (36:41):
So gosh, I feel like we're like running through the
logistics and you just made me think of something and
I want to just pause and take a moment. Everything
about both of these weddings was perfect.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
I feel so grateful. I feel so lucky. I am overjoyed.
The day after our wedding and NAPA, I probably cried
six more times just out of sheer joy. At one point,
I was showering because we're gonna go to a morning
after the wedding brunch and I'm crying and Chris comes in.

(37:19):
He's like, what's wrong. I'm like, I'm just happy.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
We were getting dressed and crying, heaving in the shower
and I run it. I was like, oh my god, babe,
what's wrong. What's wrong? You're like, I'm just so happy,
which is great. And I mean, honestly, as I sit
here now and I look at you, I and my ring,
I feel on my finger and I am I am
so happy to be your husband. I'm so excited to
be married. I'm so hopefully we're not just dragging this

(37:44):
on because I love talking about I love reliving this.
We've talked about it a million times, and that's that's
how I know this is great because we have so
only great memories from every event. And that morning, Saturday morning,
was our wedding day. What did you do in the morning?
Because I got up and I went to work out
with my boys. We went to the gym, got a
little sweat on. What did you do?

Speaker 2 (38:06):
Well, I need everything get takes women getting ready takes
a lot longer, so I kind of just woke up,
got coffee and went.

Speaker 1 (38:12):
To go get ready.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
I would have loved to get a work out in well.
I mean, look, we didn't have bridesmaids and groomsmen in
the way of like yeah that they stood up there
and we both like, like my mom got makeup and hair,
and my sister did, and and you know, Taylor did,
and so we needed to get everybody ready, and they did.
You know, my sister and Taylor and your brother and

(38:36):
Josh did walk down the aisle with us. So so
you know, you're just getting ready, is what we were doing.
And I probably at that point I was a little Okay,
let's let's we haven't talked about this. Yeah, I'm glad
you brought that up, So let's set the scene. It
is our wedding day. And I will say that now
that both events are done, and they were both so magical,

(38:59):
and I wouldn't have changed a thing. They were different,
and each was exactly what we wanted it to be
and had planned it to be, so I couldn't be happier.
But I do think NAPA is to me, our anniversary
is when we got married.

Speaker 1 (39:13):
October fourteenth will be I think the anniversary.

Speaker 2 (39:16):
NAPA was so much more. Austin was emotional because we
were with a lot of people we know in love,
but NAPA was emotional because it was with our very
closest people, I think, and also it was the first time,
and so that's what made me think of it, because
we haven't talked about this when you said how would
you do that morning? How nervous were you that morning

(39:38):
or what was going through your mind in the morning
of so.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
At peace with everything. Everything had come off so well,
and again you and I had a fingerprint on everything
that was happening, from the gift bags to the hotel.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
To the way we are going to go a big
announcement career change. We're going into wedding planning.

Speaker 1 (39:57):
Yeah, that's it.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
It's called let the Journey Begin, Wedding Planners Incorporated. And
we're here to start your journey.

Speaker 1 (40:04):
By the way, good idea.

Speaker 2 (40:06):
Write that down.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Yeah, write that down, somebody write that down. I was
so at peace, and there was something I really wanted
to have happened that day, which was be around the
people I love. You know, you and I were going
to separate. You were going to the wedding site to
get ready. I was kind of left to my own devices,
and so I went to work out with my boys,
and then we got done, got showered up, and I

(40:27):
grabbed the kids, Josh and Taylor and my mom and
we walked down to Model Bakery, one of our favorite
places there, and Napa to get the famous English muff
and breakfast, and so we walked down there and it
turned out your Theta sisters were there for Missoo, your
sorority sisters, and a few other of our wedding guests
were there, and so we ended up like like twenty

(40:47):
of us just sitting around having this breakfast again impromptu
because it's such a small town, one of the things
I love about Napa. And then on the way back,
because it was kind of late in the morning, football
had started, and so everybody had gathered at one of
the local saloons. And yes it was called a saloon.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
You know, as much as I wanted every moment with
all of our friends of the family, that we again,
I'm okay that I missed the football go on.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
So like Michigan was playing, and of course the man
who officiated our wedding was a big Michigan fan. TCU
was playing, so Josh and I and Taylor we wanted
to see TCU play, and so we all just hung out,
had a little bite and then they stayed there and
enjoyed the rest of the afternoon. And that's when I
headed off to go get ready to head to the
wedding site as well.

Speaker 2 (41:32):
So you were at peace.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
Yeah, really, we're you know the I got it back
up though, because this whole thing came full circle to
why I was so emotional. I had not looked at
the gift. I left at lunch and I went back
to our room. You had left by now, and so
I'm now alone, really for the first time in the day,

(41:53):
and it kind of starts hitting me. And I walk
in our bedroom at the hotel and there's the gift
that you left me. There's the picture of your dad,
and so I'm like, okay, here we go. I grabbed
the letter and when I realized that the picture was
not holding up on its own, it was leaning against
a jewelry box, and so I didn't look in the

(42:15):
jewelry box and I sit down on the bed. I
open the letter, and your mom explains to me that
in this box, oh god, I'm not going to get
through this, h Okay. In this box are a pair
of cuff links and they are your father's and she

(42:39):
has never given anything of your dad's to anybody else before,
and she gave me a pair of well, your brother
John has some stuff but outside the family, and so
she gave me a pair of your dad's cuff links.
Didn't ask me to wear them, just she wanted me
to have them and said she loved me. Now you

(43:02):
see why I didn't make it through my valves and NAPA.
And she was excited that we were going to spend
our life together. And she loved the way that I
loved you. And so I am bawling like a baby,
sitting by myself in bed, losing it just and now
I'm done. And I think that was the impetus for
being done for the day. I am now an emotional

(43:22):
basket case. I'm at the tipping point now the rest
of the afternoon. So your mom just gets me. So
I shower and I get ready. But your dad's cuff
links were very much just it hit me. It hit
me that I have expanded my family. I love your mom,
I love your brother, I love your sister. I love
the people in their lives. Your sister's husband and your

(43:44):
brother has an amazing girlfriend, Casey. So it just hit
me like I'm family and you're my family. And so
I got ready and I.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
Think, I, well, what it just means so much to
me to say that, because you know I have in
the past, I've I've never been in a relationship where
someone I mean, obviously it's the the reason why I
married you, but I just want to spotlight the simple
fact that you respect and cherish the meaning of becoming family.

(44:19):
And I love the way you put it that. Yeah,
we're married and our husband and wife, but like you,
I said this in my vows that you love your
family as you love my family as your own, and
I feel the same way. And I feel like we're
really on equal footing about that. And I didn't have
that before, and it should have been more of a
red flag for me before. I think I was in
relationships before where I thought, oh, this will come in time.

(44:42):
In time, they'll grow to love and appreciate my family.
It takes time. But you've always respected my family, and
I can see how much you are are grateful that
my mom like that. My mom gave you that, and
it is a big deal. My mom had never given anyone.
I have some of my dad stuff, my sister and
my brother, no one else had ever gotten anything.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
Well, I guess I buried the lead too. So Louren
and I are big letter writers. We like to leave
each other's notes we like to write letters. I had
written letters to her all week, and then we wrote
letters which I didn't know, but she wrote letters to
my kids, Josh and Taylor, our kids, Josh and Taylor,
and gave them to Josh and Tay the day of

(45:27):
our wedding. I had done the same for your mom, Donna,
your brother John, and your sister Christina, and so I
delivered letters to their rooms and slid them under the
door the day of the wedding because I just wanted
to say thank you and just show my appreciation for
being welcomed into your family, and just let them know

(45:48):
how excited I am to love you, how excited I
am to be a part of this family. And so
that's how we also started the day, was exchanging letters
with our loved ones, and then we gave each other letters.
I didn't give you yours yet, but you left mine,
and so after I read your mom's letter. This may
have been a mistake, but after I read your mom's letter,

(46:10):
I then opened your letter because you left me a
note when you left to go get ready, and now
that I was back from lunch, your letter was sitting
on the bed, so I went straight from your mom's letter,
and I said, well, I'm already bawling, I might as
well just keep going. And so then I opened your letter.
There were other letters that we left each other, but you, yeah,
you left one letter in my suit bag, and I,

(46:31):
you know, like, how there. You know, we traveled, and
so I put my suit in a little suit bag,
a little cloth thing that you zip up, garment bag
if you will, and I pulled it off and I
just threw it on the closet floor and I did
not realize that you had left a letter in there.
And it wasn't until that day when I'm like, you know,

(46:52):
I guess I'm not going to get dressed here. I'll
get dressed at the wedding site. So you know, I'm
going to put everything back in the garment bag. And
so I picked it up and I'm like, this feels
a little heavy, it's weird. And I reached in there.
I was like, oh my god, there's your letter was
in there. I would have missed it.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
Well, that was fate because I was trying to surprise
you with it, and I just assumed you would be
taking the suit house, so, okay, learn more about suits.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
So then it was time to head to the wedding
and we'll pick that up in the next episode. Thanks
for listening. Follow us on Instagram at the most dramatic
pod ever, and make sure to write us a review
and leave us five stars. I'll talk to you next time.